Does federalism lead to more tailored policies? Varying political needs between sub-states often complicate general -one size fits all- policies. This is where federalism is often put forward as a solution for multinational states. The desire to bring policy closer to citizens is the theoretical rationale behind the idea. In terms of empirical support for this argument, however, there is a major gap: there is no systematic research that empirically examines whether regional governments actually implement divergent policies. This study seeks to address this shortcoming and therefore asks the following question: do different state governments now effectively pursue different policies (RQ)? To examine this question, it looks at Belgium, a most likely case in terms of intra-federal policy differences. This for a period from 1980 to 2024. Using a self-developed coding scheme, draft decrees of the Flemish and Walloon regions are analysed. Both the policy emphasis (thematic focus) (SQ1) and the policy content of the sub-states (political position) (SQ2) are included. The study also involves a longitudinal analysis (SQ3). This is to capture possible changes and trends. Finally, the impact of institutional (federalism) and political context (e.g. coalition composition) will also be
analysed (SQ4). The results of this research will provide valuable input to debates on a wide range of political and academic controversies.